Some of the language that I have used in the site and in the assignments might be new to you. Therefore, I have included a glossary for quick reference so that you can familiarize yourself with the lingo.

This assignment requires audio assets. An asset is anything that can be considered content for a digital composition assignment. It is typically raw, unedited, “uncooked” material that will be incorporated into the assignment. Examples: Your assets for a digital narrative might include several audio files which you recorded from you friends and family. These are considered audio assets.

This assignment requires internet access. Many of the assignments in the Digital Composition Cookbook ask students to use online resources or to use the internet for research purposes.

This assignment requires video assets. An asset is anything that can be considered content for a digital composition assignment. It is typically raw, unedited, “uncooked” material that will be incorporated into the assignment. Examples: For your “Concept in 60″ assignment, you may have filmed several clips around your neighborhood or campus. These are considered video assets.

This assignment requires image assets. An asset is anything that can be considered content for a digital composition assignment. It is typically raw, unedited, “uncooked” material that will be incorporated into the assignment. Examples: Multimodal composing is often visual–sometimes more than it is textual. Images gathered for any digital project (photos, infographics, charts, clip art, symbols, etc.) can be considered an image asset.

This assignment requires print assets. An asset is anything that can be considered content for a digital composition assignment. It is typically raw, unedited, “uncooked” material that will be incorporated into the assignment. Examples: In a multimodal assignment (one which asks students to compose in various modes–print, video, audio, visual, etc.) students will be choosing from any number of modes in which to compose their narrative/argument/inquiry/analysis. Print is one with which students–and teachers–are already familiar.

This assignment requires text assets. An asset is anything that can be considered content for a digital composition assignment. It is typically raw, unedited, “uncooked” material that will be incorporated into the assignment. Examples: In a video composition, students may compose using audio and video but may still choose to punctuate their work with titles, credits, captions, etc. They may even include text as a visual–perhaps to emphasize a point or allow the audience to consider what a word means to them. What makes text different from print? Text can be applied to any number of modes: it is used in traditional print books, in websites published digitally, in films of all genres. Print is a specific mode in that it is only accessed through the material upon which it is printed.

This icon represents an organization known as Creative Commons. You can visit their website to learn more about copyright and fair use. And you can also use their standard for communicating licenses for those of us wanting to appropriate online material for our digital assets. This icon can be found not only on the Creative Commons.org search site, but also on Flickr, YouTube, and many others. Once you find this icon, you will also be able to find information related to the license of the material. This standard clarifies the process by which digital composers can legally appropriate and reuse others’ work. To read more about CC licenses, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ .

Each assignment is rated with a difficulty rating, to alert you to the level of complexity of the assignment and steepness of learning curve if digital composition is new for you and for your students. As you browse any of the available assignments, be sure to take note of the difficulty rating and consider the resources at your disposal should you choose to teach it.

Digital Composition Resources

Difficulty Rating Scale:

Each assignment is rated with a difficulty scale as to alert you to the level of complexity of the assignment and steepness of learning curve. As you browse any of the available assignments, be sure to take note of the difficulty rating and consider the resources at your disposal should you choose to teach it (e.g. Is digital composition new for you? Your students?).